Are Anti-Anxiety Drugs the Next Epidemic?

August 29, 2018
By
Novus Medical Detox Center

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If you've been following the news about the opioid epidemic, you might
have seen a recent CNBC
article declaring that anti-anxiety medications - primarily benzodiazepines -
are "fueling the next drug crisis" of widespread addictions
and overdoses.

Before we get too excited about a deadly new epidemic looming on the horizon,
let's take a closer look at the situation.

How addictive are benzodiazepines, and how life-threatening?

The answer is, they are addictive, but not nearly as addictive as opioids,
cocaine, methamphetamine, or even alcohol and tobacco.

As for overdoses, benzodiazepines on their own are not nearly as likely
as opioids to cause sudden overdose and death.

But benzodiazepines are involved in over 30 percent of multidrug opioid
overdose deaths. And their use and abuse have become alarmingly widespread.

Benzodiazepines may not be "the next drug crisis." But they are
already a cause for grave concern.

Overdoses involving benzodiazepines

Over 30 percent of overdoses involving prescription drugs involve benzodiazepines,
says the CDC. And 30 percent of overdoses involving only opioids, including
heroin, also involve benzodiazepines. And those numbers are rising.

The major problem here is that opioids and benzodiazepines both depress
the central nervous system and hence the ability to think and to breathe,
greatly adding to the risk of overdose. Mixing two or more CNS depressants
is an invitation to disaster.

"Overdose deaths involving benzodiazepines - such as Xanax, Librium,
Valium and Ativan, drugs commonly used to treat anxiety, phobias, panic
attacks, seizures and insomnia - have quadrupled between 2002 and 2015,
according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)," the CNN
article said.

It's suggested that the rising number of prescriptions is a red flag
signaling more overdose deaths in the future. This is especially so, says
NIDA, because so many people are being prescribed both drugs simultaneously.

"In a study of over 300,000 continuously insured patients receiving
opioid prescriptions between 2001 and 2013, the percentage of persons
also prescribed benzodiazepines rose to 17 percent in 2013 from nine percent
in 2001," NIDA says. "The study showed that people concurrently
using both drugs are at higher risk of visiting the emergency department
or being admitted to a hospital for a drug-related emergency."

Prescriptions soared

More or less paralleling the opioid crisis from 1996 to 2013, the number
of adults who filled a benzodiazepine prescription increased by 67 percent
- from 8.1 million to 13.5 million. And those prescriptions contain more
benzos than they did, even 10 years ago, says the CDC.

Since then, prescriptions have slightly dropped. It's been suggested
that prescribers have become more cautious, as they learned that opioid
death autopsies were finding more and more benzodiazepines in the mix.

The CNN article also reminds us that close to 40 million adult Americans
are said to be suffering from anxiety. Perhaps as many as 30 percent of
them fill benzodiazepine prescriptions. With so many benzos out there,
the field remains ripe for continued overdoses, even if only accidental
combinations with other CNN depressants, such as alcohol or prescription
painkillers.

What about benzo overdose?

On their own, benzodiazepines are seldom the "primary" drug treated
in emergency wards - perhaps 1 percent of all drug overdose-type admissions.
This is basically true for the dozen or so different benzodiazepines commonly
prescribed.

It's the same for the other two classes of drugs most associated with
anxiety and insomnia. The barbiturates, like Seconal, Nembutal and Amytal,
and the "Z-drugs," like Ambien, Sonata and Lunesta (technically
not benzodiazepines but they act in a similar way) are also only 1 percent
of all ER admissions.

So it's not like anti-anxiety drugs, on their own, are loading up the
ERs with overdoses.

But they are addictive, and dangerous to discontinue without medical supervision
even after taking them for just a week or so.

Some people also experience worsening anxiety symptoms, called the "rebound"
effect, and mistakenly consume even more of the drug, placing themselves
at greater risk of overdose.

Fake benzos laced with fentanyl

The DEA tells us that the illegal, deadly fentanyl that's being mixed
into heroin across the country also has been found in "counterfeit"
benzodiazepine pills. This has contributed to the increases in overdoses
- heroin with fentanyl and then a fentanyl-laced fake benzo - a deadly
combination.

So bottom line, benzodiazepines and other anti-anxiety meds cause and contribute
to overdoses and deaths, and we need to get better organized to deal with
the situation.

Meanwhile, Americans are subjecting themselves to mind-altering, risky
and dangerous drugs by taking a pill when they feel stressed or depressed
when there are so many alternatives such as exercise, a healthy diet,
nutritional supplements, limiting caffeine, talking to a friend, listening
to music, getting a massage, and improving quality of sleep.

But on the flip side, we're making progress. Prescribers are taking
greater care, people are becoming better informed about the risks, and
the numbers have been coming down.